Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-06-04
A Story of Wait Whitman.

GATED BY n othi'
New York World.
The story that Walt Whitman is
infrm and poor,calls to mind astory
of the early days, when the author
of "Blades of Grass" lived with his
father in Babylon. The old gentle
man occupied the Minturn place. 1t
was in1S40. The budding poet, then
about eighteen years of age, had just
returned home after his venture in
Journalism in Huntington. His sue
cess had not been marked in fact, 1T
is questioned whether it should not
be put down as miserable failure.
Walt Whitman, as described by
the old ladies of the village, was
handsome youth, full of life, pert in
his manner and brisk in his W. Tx
He was oad-shouldered and muscu
lar, always walking erect, with sail
or's swing Of easy independence.
He was a popular favorite among
both sexes in the village, and many
jolly yarns are told of those days Of
early manhood, which, no doubt, the
now aged and suffering poet can
recall with pleasure.
One of the stories called to mind is
. the arrest of the poet for an assault
upon young man named Benjamin
Carman. The Carman farm adjoined
the farm occupied by the Whitmans.
A trout pond formed the boundary.
In this pond Walt delighted to fish.
On certain day when Whitman was
sitting in his boat angling, young
Carman conceived the idea ofannoy-
ing him. He first threw stones so
as TO disturb the water near the fish
erman. Seeing no effect upon the
the stolid fisherman, he got into his
own boat and commenced rowing
leisurely around in the vicinity of
the poet, to the total destruction of
fishing. Even this disturbance fail
ed to draw forth any reproof or re-
monstrance, and Whitman fished on
as though nothing was annoying him.
At first the lad was careful to keep
beyond the reach of the fishing-pole,
but finally, his..suspicions being quiet
ed by the manner Eof the fisherman
who piled him with various questions,
asking if he were not namesake of
Benjamin Franklin, and engaging
him in cheerful conversation the boy
edging nearer and nearer, until ,lcom-
ing whiting the range of Whitman's
pole, the poet caught him unawares
and thrashed him numerically break
ing his pole and inficting quite Sc
we're injuries upon the boy, dismiss
ing him with the admonition not to
interior with his fishing again soon.
But this was not destined to be
the last of the matter. The elder
Carman, in rage at the castigation OF
his son, swore out a warrant for
Whitman's arrest. In those days
Babylon was land of "rum and ro-
NANCE" and many strange characters
clustered about the village. The
news of the important arrest Travelled
like wild-fire and when the constable
produced the prisoner before the JUS
tice the little seven-by-nine court
room was crowded. Genl. Richard
Udall, appeared as attorney for Car
man, while Whitman pleaded his own
case The jury was made up of men
who thought more of common sense
than of law. The foreman was an
Englishman, full of stubborn persis'
tency, prepared to insist upon having
his own way. The progress of the
trial was not devoid of interest the
fact is, for years the case of ''The
People against Walt Whitman was
one of the most celebrated on the
merry old south side. Gen. Udall
made ~ clear case. The evidence was
not disputed. Whitman, when he
summed up his defence, told the jury
the facts in the case. He admitted